The Gray Ceiling
That's what they call it now - the gray ceiling. When young people cannot move ahead due to the fact that older people (baby boomers) above them will not leave, it's called the gray ceiling. The most recent issue of Fortune magazine (Aug 21) talks about this and now I understand that is was that kept me stagnant for almost five years in my previous job. Get this, I was actually promised at one point that when someone two steps ahead of me left the company, I could move into my manager's position. No one would leave so I had to leave. As loyal an employee as I would consider myself, around year 4 or so, I started getting antsy. There was no way up. No matter what I did, I wasn't going to be promoted. Yes, I got my yearly raise between 3-5% if it was a good year. Yes, I got my bonuses almost every quarter if we had a big project but that was about it. The gray ceiling kept me in my place.
Just this morning, I was chatting (emailing, more like it) back and forth with someone from my old job and we were talking about another person leaving. It is so unbelievable to me that they would let this individual go. He's such a talent to the company. I can't believe no one begged him to stay. I've worked with him on several projects and he is very dedicated to his work. If you need someone to get to work at 5:00AM in the morning and leave at 11:00PM at night, he's your man. Boy, he stuck around for a minute. He should probably have left three years ago, that gives you an indication of his dedication. Anyway, it's a shame that such people go under-appreciated for so long. Many young, ambitious, and hardworking individuals are facing this phenomenon. It's a loss for one company and a gain for another. That is corporate America. The sooner people understand the way things work, the better off the will be for it. I wonder if it's the same way elsewhere?
posted by Gbemi's Piece @ 9:20 AM
2 Comments:
This is the reason why I am planning to go down the self-employment route. I truly believe one can NEVER be happy nor content working for someone else. My husband ditched his very well paid job in IT in February - and though it was a scary decision to make, he has never been happier. He has his own business now and I have never seen him so relaxed. He woks hard and the hours are LONG but we both don't mind because it's for him. It was the best thing he ever did.
Amen to that! Self-employment is the way to go. Not everyone is cut out for it though. I think it was last year that my husband began making serious noise about wanting to leave his full-time gig because he made as much money from his side hustle. I wasn't so supportive because I had a lot of what-ifs. My mindset is changing and I know he will be much happier working for himself. Congratulations to your hubby for taking that leap of faith!
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